F1: Red Bull Is Working On Deal With Mercedes For Ben Hodgkinson's Early Arrival

Red Bull needs Hodgkinson to join immediately, however, Mercedes is unlikely to be releasing him before 2023

By Sahil Gupta

1 mins read

Published on October 30, 2021

Highlights

Hodgkinson has been a keen cog in Mercedes lead in engine performance
He was announced as the technical director for Red Bull Powertrains
He is unlikely to join the team before 2023 because of a gardening leave

Usually, when senior executives in an F1 setup leave a team and join a rival, it involves a gardening period so that no trade secrets are transferred and no knowledge is used. But when Red Bull announced Ben Hodgkinson as the technical director for its newly formed Red Bull Powertrains, it had hoped that they would get the key executive from the Mercedes set up pretty quickly. The deteriorating relationship between the two teams and the tight championship fight has only added fuel to the fire. As of now, Hodgkinson is not allowed to work for Red Bull till 2023, but Red Bull is negotiating a quick release for the talented Englishman who has been at the Brixworth unit of the championship-winning team for 2 decades. Hodgkinson will be the first Technical director of Red Bull powertrains What are the chances of this happening? Well, that's unknown, however, what is known is that Red Bull is also working on a deal with Audi for engine supply for 2026 so its new power unit will need to right on the money. That's why it needs Hodgkinson's services immediately. For the interim, for the 2022 season, Honda will continue to support it and will actually be building the power unit that will be used next year before there is an engine development freeze for 4 years.